Tom Bleasby has withdrawn from the The X Factor.

Despite securing a place as a finalist in judge Nick Grimshaw’s boys category, the 19-year-old will not be seen at Judges’ Houses stage of the ITV singing competition.

In a statement, The X Factor said: “We can confirm that Tom Bleasby has chosen to withdraw from the competition due to personal reasons.”

X Factor's Tom Bleasby
X Factor’s Tom Bleasby (ITV Pictures)

Tom explained his decision to quit to the official X Factor website at ITV.com.

“It was a tough decision, I think I really discovered it at the Six Chair Challenge,” he said. “I just don’t know if I felt vocally ready to take on the competition and the pressure.”

He added: “I’m quite a relatively new singer, back in March, I was singing in my bedroom, so I’ve never took to live performing very well. I’m still discovering myself and in the competition, there are some amazing singers and I feel like I need more time to get better myself, as I don’t feel like I’m strong enough.”

Tom continued: “Moving forward, without being 100%, would have been selfish on my part because I would have stopped someone else who was at 100% vocally from going further in the competition. Hopefully given time, I could get there with more time to grow artistically and vocally.”

The young singer praised BBC Radio One’s Nick as a “fantastic” mentor, and thanked those who had backed him since his first audition back in August.

“Nick was incredible, he was so supportive and for him to give me a chair was a huge boost of faith,” Tom said. “It was just an amazing feeling, but I was still having the doubts about myself and I didn’t want to be in the competition when I was having those doubts because I would have just sunk. Nick is a fantastic mentor and I really want to thank him for all his support.”

Reaction on Twitter has been swift. Many tweeters are backing the return of Ollie Marland, who lost his seat to finalist Che Chesterton during the Six Chair Challenge.

The X Factor will confirm what will happen with the boys category in the coming days.